Damage along the TransCanada Highway in the Fraser Canyon/via BC government
Highway travel through the Fraser Canyon has reopened this Wednesday, after a Tuesday overnight shutdown of the TransCanada between Ashcroft and Boston Bar due to the risk of mudslides.
The closure Tuesday night at 8:30pm came less than 12-hours after the highway was reopened — around two weeks after the Kookipi Creek wildfire jumped the highway north of Boston Bar.
TNRD director for the area, Tricia Thorpe, says that fire has since become less threatening.
“The good news is that it kind of went east, instead of heading north through the Canyon,” noted Thorpe. “So that’s positive, because there’s less structures. It went into the mountains.”
However, the instability of the highway remains a lingering question.
Less than 2-hours after the reopening on Wednesday morning, traffic through the lower half of the Fraser Canyon was once again cut-off due to a rockslide near Yale.
⛔️#BCHwy1 A rockfall has closed the highway in both directions east of the #Yale tunnel. Assessment in progress. No detour available. Expect major delays. Expected update: 8am #HopeBC #BostonBar
ℹ️https://t.co/0o6fbGc1kU— DriveBC (@DriveBC) August 30, 2023
That shutdown has since been cleared.
Thorpe notes crews had originally hoped to open the route to traffic on Monday, but had to put that off until Tuesday morning due to some prescribed burns — which she says should help over the longer-term.
“While they were doing the back-burns at the Kanaka Bar area, it meant that [BC] Hydro could get in there and repair a lot of the poles that were taken out by the fire.”
Despite the problems with the Highway this summer, Thorpe says it’s not as bad as it had been a couple of years ago.
“We were in far worse shape in ’21 when we had the atmospheric river, and the highway was shut down in both directions for a couple of months in the winter,” said Thorpe, noting this most recent shutdown did not cut off residents to the north, allowing them access to areas such as Ashcroft and Lillooet.
The TransCanada through the Canyon will remain under single-lane, alternating through the fire zone.
Meanwhile, Highway 1 through the Shuswap fire zone still remains open, though there is still no stopping between Chase and Sorrento.
